Utility carts are used in the transport industry to perform different tasks. They carry goods along alleys and can be configured to serve drinks, food, sell goods and collect garbage, among other tasks. Legacy carts are made in aluminum that makes them strong but heavy. It is therefore desirable to have a utility cart that is lighter to move and handle.
Lighter utility carts made of composites materials are becoming more and more popular. Composite materials offer a better strength/weight ratio than most isotropic materials. Composites materials are lighter than metals, like aluminum, because they are designed to provide material where it is the most needed to sustain mechanical loads applied thereon. Generally, composite material products are strong on their overall structure but are rather weak to sustain loads locally applied thereto.
Utility carts used in the aircraft industry are subjected to aeronautical regulations. Some regulations are directed to fire resistance while others are related to mechanical stresses resistance. SAE Aerospace Standard AS 8056 is an example of regulations applicable to utility carts intended to be used in airplanes.
Physical tests are performed on utility carts to ensure they meet each mandatory requirement. Some tests are adapted to verify if the utility cart resists to local impacts. For example, aerospace standards require a utility cart to sustain direct local loads/stresses applied on some portions of the utility cart. The utility cart needs to sustain concentrated loads of many G's (1G being one time the Earth's gravity) without suffering significant damages. In the present situation, loads equivalent to 9G must be bore by the utility cart.
At least one of the requirements refers to a load applied on some portions of the utility cart. Specific tests try to simulate the load applied by the locking member securing the utility cart in the galley of an airplane. The load is applied in the plan defined by the upper portion of the utility cart and in a direction orthogonal with the front portion of the utility cart. Such a concentrated load generally exceeds the strength of the composite material used to build the utility cart structure.
It is therefore desirable to find an improved composite material utility cart structure over the existing art. It is also desirable to find a composite material that is prone to support concentrated loads applied to a wall portion of the utility cart.
Other deficiencies will become apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains in view of the following summary and detailed description with its appended figures.